With Death, Comes Pain
by Daelena
Summary: Ianto is dying and Jack hates it. Ianto/Jack. Doctor/Donna.  Ninth of the "Immortal Janto" series. Beware, a tear-jerker.


With Death, Comes Heartbreak

_Disclaimer__: Yeah, I don't own anything._

_Summary__: Ianto is dying and Jack hates it. Ianto/Jack. Part of the "Immortal Janto" series._

_Here we are, another (emotional) Janto story, so grab your tissues! This is Ianto's first death with Jack around._

It had started out so easy. There was a planet that was drifting (slowly) away from its sun and the population of the planet had, in an attempt to resolve the problems, create a nuclear reactor to take the place of the sun. The Doctor, being the Time Lord that he was, had thought that it was a bad idea, especially since the reactor was becoming increasingly unstable, which was causing more problems than it was solving.

As a result, the TARDIS crew had to scramble to fix the problem (which they did, successfully). No one had died and Donna was in the process of figuring out to stabilize the planet's orbit of the sun so that it won't drift any more than it should ordinarily.

Or so they thought.

Ianto was down finishing shutting down the reactor. Jack smiled at the mere thought of his husband. As soon as they were off this nutty planet, he was taking Ianto out on a much-deserved date, where they would go for dinner and dancing and all the romance that followed.

All of a sudden, an explosion rocked the base and massive alarms went off. Jack scrambled for a monitor to see what happened. It was bad. The logical part of his brain knew what the blaring sirens meant. There had been some kind of melt-down and poisonous radiation was spilling out of the reactor. Security measures were in place to save as many people as possible, which would not have bothered him, if Ianto wasn't at the focal point of the radiation blast.

Jack dropped what he was doing and bolted for Ianto. His husband was going to die and Jack refused to let him die alone. Ianto would be so pissed off at him.

The Doctor was running behind him, calling things out at a rapid pace. Concerned logic filled Jack and he skidded to a stop, causing the Time Lord behind to pause as well, a confused look on his face.

"Doctor, you can't go down there," Jack said, in a rush. "You'll die, regenerate. I won't let you lose another regeneration for a friend, even if it's for Ianto, not when you have a family."

"Don't worry about me, Jack." There was appreciation in his voice. "The radiation's already being vented. This base was well-constructed, even if for all of the wrong reasons. I'll be fine." The Doctor drew a sharp breath. "It's Ianto we have to be worried about."

Jack's breathing was ragged as he nodded, now voiceless.

Moments later, they came running into the lab, only to find a thick plexiglas panel separating the reactor from the rest of the base. The Doctor cooed for a moment and began listen all of the benefits of said panel. It was ingenious apparently, designed to keep radiation particles from spreading and causing damage. But Jack didn't hear the Doctor.

He only saw Ianto leaning hace against the panel, face contorted in an expression of immense pain. Ianto's side was bleeding, a long gash that would no doubt leave a scar.

And Ianto was on the wrong side of the panel.

"Ianto," Jack cried, throat closing as he felt tears spring to his eyes.

His husband's head rose and their eyes met. Jack saw the tears running down Ianto's face. Ianto knew what was going on. It was hard not to.

Jack took a step towards the glass. A hot tear slid down his cheek as he reached out a hand to the panel. Ianto turned to face him dropping his bloody hand from his side. Jack noted, very briefly, how disheveled Ianto was. Normally, even in the face of danger, Ianto almost never unbuttoned his waistcoat.

Today, it was strangely missing and Jack knew that Ianto had put on a waistcoat that morning when they had gotten dressed.

"Ianto," he repeated. The tears came freely now.

His lover and husband smiled freely. "Hey Jack." There was a tone of resignation in Ianto's voice that Jack didn't like.

"You're – you're . . ." Jack couldn't bring himself to say it.

"I'm dying, Jack. I know it."

Jack's heart broke. Memories of holding Ianto in his arms as he died flashed across his mind. It had been hard the first time. This time . . . Jack struggled to bite back the tears. He pressed his hand against the panel.

"We're getting you out of there before that happens."

Behind him, the Doctor hissed. "Jack . . ."

"You won't be able to, Jack." Ianto gave him a little smile, laying his hand on the panel, directly opposite of where Jack's was. "I know what's going on here. The radiation is still too strong on my side. Even if you got me out, the whole base would be flooded. Think about all the people who would die. Think about Donna, the Doctor, the twins. You have to wait until the radiation clears before you can release the panel."

Ianto was right. He usually was in these situations. Jack didn't like it.

"How long will that take?" The question was more directed at the Doctor than at Ianto, though Jack knew that Ianto knew the answer to that question as well.

"Years, at best."

That hurt, worse than anything else, even Ianto's first death.

"I only just got you back, Yan." Tears slid down Jack's face. He saw how Ianto's engagement ring sparkled in the light, matching the quieter beauty of his wedding ring. Jack loved that sight. "I don't want to lose you so soon."

Ianto hushed him before wincing in pain, falling to his knees. The radiation was moving quick and Ianto was already weak from his injury. "We still have all the time in the universe, Jack. This is only a minor setback. We'll be together again soon enough."

"Yan, please, don't talk like that." Jack was desperate. He had to keep Ianto's spirits up. "We've got the Doctor. He'll figure something out."

"Jack, don't do that to the Doctor. For me, don't do that to him."

He was sounding so much weaker with each passing moment. Jack kept himself at Ianto's level, in plain sight of his dying husband. Even as immortals, it still hurt to see the man Jack loved and had pledged himself to for all eternity sacrificing his life because he loved his family and Jack too much.

The Doctor was scrambling with the controls but, after minutes of trying, while Ianto was slowly slipping away, Jack heard the Time Lord stop. He wanted to scream, cry, demand that the Doctor keep trying and save Ianto. Because Jack couldn't bear to be apart from Ianto for the time it took to clear the radiation. He couldn't live, watching Ianto die and come back to life, only to die again as the radiation ate away at his health and life.

"Jack, I'm sorry," the Doctor said, mournfully. "There's nothing I can do right now. I don't have the resources."

"Doctor, save it." Jack kept his eyes on the Welshman in front of him. Ianto was shaking. He was so pale. "Yan, listen to me. We'll get you out of there, I promise you. You just have to hold on. You're strong. You've survived worse. The twins have years and years of bedtime stories from you." Ianto looked at him and smiled, vaguely. "Yan, please, I love you so much."

"I love you too, Jack. Remember that."

"Please, Ianto! Don't go."

But it was too late. Ianto was gone.

A horrible, terrible scream ripped through Jack's throat. Ianto was dead and he was just as powerless to save him as he had been before. It was the Thames House and the 456s all over again. Jack sobbed, hands pressed against the panel.

Another explosion ripped through the reactor, sending Ianto's body hurtling away from the panel. Jack fell back as the shock of the blast rattled across the room.

He was only vaguely aware of the Doctor behind him, bent over the controls. The Time Lord was unsure of what tell him and Jack didn't blame the man. They were in an odd position, he and Ianto. Moments later, hurried footsteps echoed through the halls.

Donna ran into the room, a few of the planet's scientists hot on her heels. Jack turned to face her, just a bit. Her face fell as she saw the tears fall down his cheeks and the expression on his eyes. She looked to the reactor, through the panel, and the outline of Ianto's crumpled body. She looked back to Jack and Jack knew that she understood.

Tears formed in her eyes at the depth of the situation.

"Jack," she whispered, taking a step towards him. His lips quivered as he tried to control his emotions, but he failed. Donna knelt down and hugged him tightly. "We'll get him out."

Coughing met their ears. Jack turned, eyes wide, back to the reactor. Ianto was weakly pulling himself up from the ground, very much alive. The scientists were all murmuring in surprise, aware that Ianto had been dead, that no being in the universe could survive that much exposure to radiation.

Jack scrambled over to his side of the panel, staring at his husband.

"Ianto!" he called. "Ianto, are you alright?"

Ianto turned to him, weak smile still on his face. "I feel like I've been run over by a truck."

"We're getting you out of there, I promise."

"Jack, don't make promises you can't keep." Ianto's voice was stern, reflecting the harshness of the situation. "I know the numbers. I won't be getting out of here for years to come, if I'm lucky."

It hurt Jack so much to see Ianto so grim. That wasn't like his Ianto, to be so defeated.

Then, from behind him, Jack heard Donna's voice.

"Unless . . . yes, that'll do it!"

He turned, very briefly, to see Donna, a look of wild glee on her face, pushing her husband to the side, taking the controls. Her fingers flew wildly over buttons and knobs. The Doctor looked over her shoulder, watching what she was doing, studying the patterns her hands took. After a minute, he too was grinning.

The Doctor kissed Donna's cheek.

"You are brilliant, Donna Noble. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're not flexible enough in how you think about these kinds of things."

Under normal circumstances, Jack would have had a field day with that statement, but he wasn't really in the mood for that at the moment. All that mattered was that Donna had come up with some idea to save Ianto and the Doctor was on board with it. Jack turned back to Ianto, a smile on his lips.

"You hear that, Yan. They're saving you."

"Good to hear." Ianto winced, pressing a hand to his side. Jack grimaced. He saw the blood still seeping out of the wound on Ianto's side. "Seems like the radiation is slowing my healing process."

"Hang on, Ianto." Jack was hopeful now.

Exactly three minutes and nineteen seconds later, Donna's solution came into full effect, just as Ianto was shaking again and showing signs of succumbing to the effects of the radiation.

"Isolating the radiation particles," the red-head said, her voice triumphant. "Activate the transportation beam, now!"

Bright lights filled the room and Jack heard the distinct sound of the TARDIS's klaxons going as the room was cleared of all harmful radiation particles.

"Doctor? Donna?" His voice was full of questions, even as he kept his eyes on Ianto.

"Donna figured out an algorithm to isolate all harmful particles and transport them to a remote sun that actually likes those kinds of particles. The TARDIS helped us by providing a transport."

Jack turned back to the panel as it rose, the harmful effects that it was designed to protect against gone. Ianto was pale. He ran to Ianto and caught him, just as Ianto's knees were about to give out.

He held Ianto in his arms, burying his face into the side of his neck. Ianto was shaking in his arms.

"Please don't do that to me again, Yan," Jack whispered into his ear

Seconds – minutes – hours later, Ianto steadied enough so that they could walk out of that God-forsaken room and back to the TARDIS. Donna and the Doctor flanked them, serving as an honor guard against the scowls and looks of the people on base. Neither the Time Lord nor his Lady were particularly happy now with what had happened to Ianto and the emotional strain that it had placed on the two immortals.

Finally, the TARDIS came into sight, reliable and full of strength.

Jack guided a still weak and shell-shocked Ianto inside, where the twins greeted them. The odd sense that children had made the two more sympathetic and they gave Ianto giant, wordless hugs, before letting Jack guide him out of the control room and back to their room.

As they lay down on the bed, Ianto began crying.

"Hey," Jack said, cupping his face, brushing away the tears with a thumb. "it's okay. You're safe now."

"Jack, I died."

"I know you did." He kissed Ianto's cheek. "But you're safe now and I won't let you go."

Ianto opened his mouth to say something, but Jack pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. "We can talk about death in the morning. You need your rest, to recover your strength."

Ianto nodded, his eyes sad and weak. "Will you be there? When I wake up?"

He meant so much more than that. Jack smiled brilliantly at him. "You know I always will be."

And so, Ianto Jones managed to get to sleep that night, held in the possessive and comforting arms of his beloved husband, Jack Harkness, who was possibly more rattled and scared by his death than Ianto was.

_So, what do you think? Let me know! I appreciate feedback so much from my fellow Janto lovers._


End file.
